- Ed Kelley – Frank Greer Lifetime Achievement Award. Kelley is the former dean of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and editor of The Oklahoman & Times and The Washington Times. Kelley has served in executive news positions for more than 30 years. He led The Oklahoman’s coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1996. The award is named after Greer, who was the publisher of the Oklahoma Daily State Capital, the state’s first daily newspaper.
- Bruce Willingham – Carter Bradley First Amendment Award. Willingham is publisher of the McCurtain County Gazette. The Gazette covered the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office and the release of bodycam footage related to the death of a Choctaw Nation citizen following a violent encounter with local law enforcement officials. The actions of the newspaper were covered nationwide. The First Amendment Award is the OKSPJ’s highest honor for journalism produced in the state in the past year.
- Dr. Mark Hanebutt – Teacher of the Year. Hanebutt, a former president of OKSPJ, is professor of journalism in the Mass Communication department at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. An attorney who works in the area of media law, he has an extensive career beginning as an editor and reporter with The Evansville Courier and The Orlando Sentinel and as a columnist for several other newspapers. An author of college textbooks on journalism and media law, he has been affiliated with UCO since 1988, receiving numerous awards for his academic and research work. The Teacher of the Year is based upon an individual that has and continues to educate, motivate, and inspire students in the classroom.